Three suspects in interrupted Palo Alto home burglary arrested

Palo Alto officers arrested three men last week after an interrupted residential burglary and linked them to two other recent break-ins, police said.

A woman living on the 800 block of Miranda Green called police at about 11:20 a.m. on Oct. 30 and reported that her home had just been broken into, and officers arrived at her home in about three minutes, according to a Palo Alto police statement.

The woman told officers she was inside her home when her dog began barking. She went outside to see what was happening and noticed an unfamiliar gold BMW X-5 sport utility vehicle in her driveway, according to police.

The BMW drove off as she went outside to check on it. She also noticed her unlocked side gate was open. She walked to the side of her house and saw a man with a crowbar-type tool in his hands standing next to an open sliding door to a guest bedroom, according to police.

The man ran away, and the woman followed after. She heard a car door slam and saw the gold BMW that was in her driveway drive off going north on Miranda Avenue. The woman noticed the BMW had a paper license plate with the word water in it.

About 30 minutes later, two Palo Alto officers spotted the gold BMW, which had the word "Waterford" on a blue paper license plate, on the 2100 block of East Bayshore Road, police said.

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Officers stopped and arrested Bulmaro Sanchez, Jose Angel Jimenez, and Carlos Bribiesca-Martinez, all 18 years old and East Palo Alto residents, according to police.

An investigation linked the three suspects to two other burglaries that happened on Oct. 25 on the 2000 block of Princeton Street and on the 700 block of Montrose Avenue, according to police. Witnesses in both burglaries told officers they spotted a BMW X-5 in the area during those crimes. Stolen property from the Princeton Street was found and returned to its owner, police said.

Sanchez, Jimenez, and Bribiesca-Martinez were booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail on conspiracy, possession of stolen property and burglary tools, and three counts of residential burglary, according to police.

Residents are encouraged to be observant of their surroundings, lock their homes' doors and windows, and to immediately call 911 to report suspicious behavior. Anyone with information about the burglaries or who recognizes the BMW or the suspects is asked to call 650-329-2413.